SMART awards design-build contract

The $68.7-million contract includes several key elements of the continuing work on Phase 1 of the rail and pathway project and includes design and construction of track from Civic Center Drive to the downtown station site in San Rafael, Calif.; strengthening of the Puerto Suello Tunnel in San Rafael; integration of the vehicular traffic control system in downtown San Rafael; installation of the rolling leaf bascule bridge to replace the existing Haystack Bridge over the Petaluma river; seven segments of the SMART Pathway in Sonoma and Marin that have completed environmental clearances, totaling approximately three miles; construction of the operations and maintenance facility, which will house vehicle storage and maintenance, dispatch and train operations and systems and station platform finishes, platform tops, access ramps and stairs, shelters, lighting, seating, etc.

"Progress has been rapid since we started construction in the summer of 2012," stated Judy Arnold, SMART board chair and president of the Marin County Board of Supervisors. "This contract will deliver most of the remaining infrastructure for starting service in 2016 and the board is especially pleased that like our first construction contract, the winning proposal is from another Bay Area contractor, delivering local jobs."

Project progress to date includes track reconstruction from Santa Rosa to Petaluma, final steps for permits to continue track construction into Marin in the Spring, assembly in Illinois of the first train set due to start testing on the new tracks next year, signaling and communications systems design nearing completion with field installation beginning and environmental mitigation requirements being met through the purchase of the Mira Monte Marina property within the project area.

Five qualified proposals were evaluated by a selection committee based first on technical criteria and subsequently combined with pricing to produce a combined score based on the criteria described in the request for proposals. The top three firms, with proposals ranging from $74.3 to $82.5 million, were invited to participate in the Best and Final Offer step of the process.

General Manager Farhad Mansourian noted that cost savings were realized through refinement of the scope of work by SMART staff, as well as negotiations with contractors, with particular attention paid to the scope of the operations & maintenance facility elements without sacrificing function.